U.S. warns Pakistan on Kashmir polls

U.S. warns Pakistan on Kashmir polls

Agencies, Washington/Islamabad/New Delhi

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said on Monday that
Washington had warned Pakistan not to interfere in looming
elections in Indian-ruled Kashmir.

Powell also signaled, as he hosted Indian Foreign Minister
Yashwant Sinha, that the United States was still pressuring
Pakistan, its close ally in its campaign against terrorism, to
rein in militants in the divided region.

Powell and Sinha met to lay the groundwork for a meeting
between President George W. Bush and Prime Minister Atal Behari
Vajpayee at the United Nations this week.

They met after authorities in Indian Kashmir accused Pakistan
of hiring local militants to disrupt phased legislative assembly
polls which start on Sept. 16.

"I reaffirmed to the Minister that we have spoken to the
Pakistanis about not interfering in any way with those elections,
which we expect will be free and fair," said Powell.

A Muslim militant group said on Tuesday it would continue
killing supporters of a "sham" election starting next Monday in
the Indian zone of disputed Kashmir.

"We not only stand by our announcement to disrupt the mock
polls but we are vigorously implementing it," said Abdur Rafia, a
senior leader of the Jamiatul Mujahedin group.

Rafia said his group had killed and would continue to kill all
those taking part in or willingly supporting the "sham exercise."

Sinha later said at a press conference that New Delhi was
committed to holding "free, fair, peaceful and lucid elections in
Kashmir."

But in an oblique reference to Pakistan, India's age-old foe,
he added: "Naturally our neighbor has an important role to play."

In New Delhi, India's defense minister George Fernandes on
Tuesday accused Pakistan of trying to disrupt the upcoming
elections in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir.

He said incidents of heavy shelling by Pakistani troops in
Kashmir's northern Kargil region in recent days were evidence of
the attempted sabotage of the polls, taking place in four phases
between Sept. 16 and Oct. 8.

"These are signs that even Pakistani forces are getting
involved in moves to disrupt the polls," Fernandes was quoted as
saying by the Press Trust of India (PTI).

In Islamabad, Pakistan on Tuesday hit back at the Indian
foreign minister after he described next month's Pakistani
general election as a "sham".

"It is an irresponsible statement bordering on desperation,"
Foreign Office spokesman Aziz Ahmed Khan told AFP.

Sinha told Britain's Financial Times in an interview published
on Tuesday: "Pakistan has had a sham referendum (in April) and is
now having sham elections."

Islamabad is worried that India may take advantage of any
U.S.-led military assault on Iraq to quietly attack Pakistan,
Pakistan's ambassador to the United Nations said on Monday.

"A lot of our friends have asked about what would happen if
there is an attack on Iraq by an international coalition. I think
a more relevant question is what would happen if India were to
take a pre-emptive strike on Pakistan. That is our fear," envoy
Munir Akram said.

He was responding to a reporter who asked at a media luncheon
whether Pakistan feared it might be destabilized by a U.S.-led
invasion of Iraq.